


Blue Sleep

by Indulgenceahoy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Early Flowey Resets, Gen, Inexperienced magic user, No pacifist run yet, OC, Sad Papyrus, Torture, Undyne Swearing, before Frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-07-27 10:18:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7614184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indulgenceahoy/pseuds/Indulgenceahoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One would say that being the only one of your kind left would make you depressed, but Papyrus had never known any other skeletons, so he didn’t have anyone to miss.  Besides, he had plenty of supportive friends, a steady job he liked, and plans for the future as a Royal Guard coming together.  In fact, his life was quite perfect.</p><p>The hole in his soul was probably just gas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Now I lay me down to sleep

To say that Papyrus enjoyed puzzles would be like saying Snowdin was cold all the time.  It was just one of those _obvious things_ that people rolled their eyes about.   Even if you just happened to be meeting the tall skeleton for the first time, you would have this knowledge in your head within minutes.   Another evident truth about Papyrus is that he loved him brother very, very -very- much.   “GREATLY” is the word he would use if you left it up to him to describe it and, even if you didn’t.

So, it would not be anywhere near an exaggeration to say that he was _-very-_ worried when the living room clock struck 9 p.m. and his brother had yet to come home.

Usually, Papyrus would’ve been down at Grillby’s a couple of hours earlier looking for his errant sibling, but that night he had been distracted.  A super TV special: “Live Action Drama With Mettaton – Starring Mettaton” was on. It was a reenactment of the human/monster war with rather generous re-writing to allow for extra parts for robots fond of extravagant costume changes.   Papyrus had been enthralled during the first half of it, since it seemed that a LOT of the monster/human war consisted in getting humans into traps and be bestowed with long monologues from monsters being portrayed by Mettaton (starring: Mettaton) and some orange cat dude in some smaller, barely talking parts.

Papyrus made mental notes on potential traps and puzzles he could use on the humans that surely would appear in Snowdin _any time now_.   He was aware that the way they were portrayed on monster TV wasn’t exactly accurate.  Most of them didn’t have the correct number of limbs -or limbs at all- and the paper masks on the extras with approximate human faces drawn on them, kept falling off or being licked off by the dogs sneaking into the set.  Still, good information to have, and Papyrus had filled several pages on his notebook with notes and some drawings.   Surely, Sans would find all of this fascinating and use it to improve his own puzzles as well.

However, when the Union mandated break came on, and Papyrus attention returned to the real world, the empty spot next to him on the couch became almost offensive.

It wasn’t that he had expected Sans to be as interested in the TV program as he was (UNBELIEVABLE AS THAT WAS ) but he had _promised_ to watch him with him.  

The tall skeleton tapped his fingers on the couch’s arm and sighed.  He got up and adjusted his red scarf.  It was time to go to Grillby’s.  

As he walked down the snowy path to the popular hangout, the feeling of dread he had been trying really hard to interpret as annoyance or even frustration, grew stronger.  Something felt off.  He wanted to run to Grillby’s and hug his brother even though he couldn’t explain why.  He stopped and looked around.  At this time of night, the town streets were practically deserted.  An eerie silence hung in the air.  He rubbed his arm bones and remembered the last time he had seen Sans:

 _It had been a little before noon that same day.  Papyrus’ rounds had taken him to Sans post near the Ruins.  He had expected the smaller skeleton to be taking his 2_ _nd_ _(or third if he was especially ambitious that day) break nap of the day.  He was surprised then,when had Sans not only been awake but standing in front of his post looking towards the Ruins.  Papyrus approached Sans without him noticing him until he put a hand on his shoulder, startling Sans out of his thoughts.  The tall skeleton had laughed merrily very proud of his sneak abilities._

_“NYE HE HE HE BROTHER, YOU REALLY NEED TO WORK ON YOUR OBSERVATION SKILLS!!  IF I HAD BEEN A HUMAN, YOU WOULD BE IN A LOT OF TROUBLE!”_

_“you got me bro” said Sans smiling._

_“OF COURSE I DID! I PRACTICE MY STEALTH SKILLS EVERY MORNING! JUST BEFORE MY FIVE MILE JOG”_

_“Yeah…”  Sans returned his attention towards the Ruins.  Papyrus looked in the same direction trying to discern what was so interesting.  A human approaching perhaps?   After he failed to find anything even remotely interesting, he decided to ask._

_“IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG?”_

_Sans didn’t respond right away.  He sighed and rolled his shoulders back.  He did look more tired than normal.  Jittery…._

_“Nah.  I guess i’m just just bone tired”_

_“REALLY BROTHER,  YOU NAP ENOUGH FOR THE ENTIRE TOWN”_

_“I’m a bonefide expert at it” said Sans scratching his chin.  He winked at his brother._

_Papyrus grunted but the fact that his brother was joking around put him at ease.  Still._

_“YOU’RE OK, RIGHT?”_

_“Of course I am” said Sans and he smiled even wider “I’m just late for my nap”_

_“BROTHER….”_

_“Just a small one… tiny... “  He winked again.  “That … that show you want to see is tonight right?  I want to be awake for that”_

_“THAT’S RIGHT!” said Papyrus perking up “SO YOU WANT TO SEE WITH ME?”_

_“I’ll bring the popcorn.  Promise”_

_“OK!! I’M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!” said Papyrus grinning even wider.  “I SHALL DO MY ROUNDS TWICE AS QUICKLY, SO I HAVE TIME TO MAKE US BOTH A DOUBLE HELPING OF SPAGHETTI!”_

_“Er… sounds good bro”_

_Papyrus was practically bouncing on his heels as he walked away.  Before he reached a turn that would take him out of view, he turned around and waved at his brother._

_He waved back, smiling his usual smile,  and went inside his small wooden post to sleep his usual nap._

_******_

Everything had been good.  Normal.  

Why hadn’t Sans come home yet then?

 

When Papyrus walked into Grillby’s, his eyes immediately went to Sans’ usual spot at the bar.   It was empty.  He fought back the panic nibbling at him in the back of his skull.  Maybe he missed him on the way here?  Maybe he was home already.  

He looked around and saw a couple of the usual patrons having a quiet conversation in the corner.  Still no brother.

He decided to ask anyway.   Just in case.  

Grillby came out of the kitchen carrying a clean rag.  He greeted Papyrus with a surprise tone.  Papyrus rarely visited Grillby’s by himself.  

“HEY GRILLBY” greeted Papyrus back.  He took a deep breath.  “HAVE YOU SEEN MY BROTHER?”

Grillby shook his head.  “I haven’t seen him all day.  I was wondering about that”  

Papyrus took another deep breath.  “OK”  

“It’s everything ok?” asked Grillby noticing the skeleton’s distress.   “Are you guys fighting?”

“NO! OF COURSE NOT!” said Papyrus “HE’S JUST LATE COMING HOME.  HE PROBABLY FELL ASLEEP AT ONE OF HIS POSTS.  YOU KNOW, AS USUAL”

“Yeah ... Do you want help looking for him?”  

“THANK YOU! BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN LOOK FOR MY ERRANT BROTHER AND BRING HIM HOME BEFORE ANY OTHER MONSTER!” declared Papyrus.  Bravado always helped him feel better.  

“Ok, Papyrus” said Grillby tossing the rag over his shoulder.  “Please call me if you need anything”

“OK.  I WILL”  He left Grillby trying not to look as panicked as he felt.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he took off in a run towards the last place he had seen his brother.  It was always good to exercise. Yes, that was it.  Just exercise.

He reached the post.  It was empty.   He looked behind the post and found the lantern they kept there for emergencies.   When he lighted it, he saw a set of footprints going into the forest.  He was eternally grateful that for once, the night snow had held off.   He followed the trail until he reached a clearing about half a mile away.   

Wondering what his brother (if those footprints actually belonged to his brother)  had been doing in such a place he stepped into it.  

“SANS?”  he called out.  “SANS! ARE YOU HERE?”

He only got the wind traveling through the tree branches as his answer.  He frowned.  The trail ended there.  He was a little glad that he hadn’t found his brother.  He couldn’t think of any happy reasons of why he would be in such a out of the way place.  

He gave the place another glance before turning away but then did a double take, when he realized that there had been a spot of blue peeking from under the snow.  

As he approached it, it became more and more obvious that it was fabric.  Fabric like the one his brother’s favorite jacket was made of.   

He reached for it and pulled on it.  The snow fell away.   

Papyrus held his brother’s empty jacket in his hands.  

He looked around for other signs of him.   He searched snow piles that might be hiding his body.  He called his name until his voice was raw.  

It was pitch dark now.  Even with the lantern he couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him.  He looked at the heavy jacket again. It was torn in several spots.   A large rip down its back.  

Where was he?

_Where was he?_

He searched his pockets for his phone.  His soul did a flip when he realized he had a missed call.  He hadn’t realized that the ringer had been off.  OF all the times to…

A voicemail.  From Sans.  

He pressed the PLAY button.   

“Sweet dreams bro.  I love you”

Everything went dark.

******

Papyrus woke to the sound of Grillby calling his name.   

He sleeply looked at the alarm clock next to his head.   OH NO, HE WAS LATE!

AGAIN!

He got up in a hurry and banged his head on the low ceiling.  Even after years of having that attic space as a bedroom he still always forgot about that low hanging beam.    He grumbled to himself but continued getting into his uniform in a hurry.  

After zipping up his pants, he heard Grillby calling out.  He scrambled over to the hatch door on his floor and opened.  

“I’LL BE RIGHT DOWN! I’M SORRY!” he called out.  He saw the fire elemental sigh and shake his head, but his eyes didn’t look angry, so that was a good sign.  

Papyrus closed the door and finished getting ready for his early morning shift.   He usually didn’t have any trouble getting up, but he had not been getting a lot of sleep lately.   His dreams had been weird and would love to get someone's opinion on them, if he could only remember them.

OH WELL.  No time for that now.  He had a restaurant to help get ready for the day.  Prep work to be done.  Groceries to be picked up.  Floors that needed sweeping.  Odd jobs that needed to get done.  Then at noon head out for his Royal Guard training, only to come back at 6 and help in the kitchen and bus tables.   All in all, a very exciting day.  

Some monsters would call his daily activities “Exhausting”, “Too much”, “Insane”.  But keeping busy kept Papyrus happy.  He thrived in feeling useful.   So monsters left him alone after a while, and his friends just kept an eye on him, just in case he ever fell over from exhaustion.   

 _Papyrus will be ok.  He is just that way._  Was the general opinion among all the monsters who knew him.

Papyrus poofed out his chest at his reflection in the mirror.  Yep, he was ready for the day.

 

He opened the hatch door again and slid down the ladder that led to his attic room on top of Grillby’s.  

He ran past Grillby’s bedroom and made a mental note to remember to pick up the laundry after he was done downstairs.  

He slid down the main stairs banister and jumped off two steps early.   He walked into the kitchen and greeted Grillby who was in the middle of bringing in some sack of potatoes for his fries.  

“GOOD MORNING!”

 


	2. I pray the Lord my soul to keep

****“PAPYRUS!” yelled Undyne “EYES FRONT! I ALMOST SKEWERED YOU!”

Papyrus stared dumbly at the vanishing magic spear in front of him.  He jumped back suddenly realizing what almost happened.  He coughed into his hand in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.   Where was his head today?

“I’M SORRY UNDYNE!” he said “YOU ARE TOO FAST FOR ME SOMETIMES!”

“Right! I am!” declared Undyne “But you were distracted too! That was me going easy on you.  What’s the matter with you?”  

“YEAH, SORRY!” Papyrus found himself sweating a little bit at the fact that his mentor had already noticed his lack of attention.  “DIDN’T SLEEP MUCH LAST NIGHT!”

“You never sleep much anyway!” Undyne came closer and took a better look at the skeleton.  “Maybe you should skip training today”  

“OH NO, NO, NO.  I NEVER SKIP ANYTHING!” said Papyrus a little offended “I SHALL KICK MY BRAIN BACK INTO GEAR”  

“I bet you will, but I still think you should skip training today”  Undyne put her hands on her hips.  “You have dark circles under your eyes and honestly, you train more than anybody here.  I think you can afford a couple of hours off”

“YEAH, BUT….”

“IT’S AN ORDER!” insisted Undyne “Go find a quiet spot and have a nap or something!  I’ll send someone to wake up in time to go back to Grillby’s”  

“OH, OK”  Papyrus hung his head and walked off the training field.  He really didn’t feel like napping. In fact, the whole concept of napping was disagreeable with him.   Who wasted time napping when there was so MUCH to do!

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He found an area right off the field and sat down so his back was against a group of rocks covered in moss.  He didn’t want to disobey the Captain, so he decided he would at least give napping a try. It was a nice day in Waterfall, all things considered.  Such a waste to spend it sleeping.  He looked to his right and saw a young Echo flower.  It’s beautiful blue color shimmering in the Waterfall’s constant twilight.  It would still be another year or so before it grew enough to actually start recording monster’s voices.  

It was kinda cute.

He touched it with the tip of his finger.  At this stage, all Echo flowers could do was do small tinkling sound.  He remembered being young and playing with a field of them trying to put together a song for him.  For someone....

Hm.

He flicked the petals gently and flower twinkled in response.  

_“don’t do it too hard” “you’ll make it cry”_

“FLOWERS DON’T CRY!”  he said.

_“echo flowers are special.  they can cry because they can keep monster’s soul memories in them”_

“NU-HUH” he shook his head.

_“yah huh.  but when they are this young, all they can do is sing little songs, if you are gentle with them when you touch them”_

“I’LL MAKE THEM SING YOU A SONG!” he said smiling.  

_“oh yeah?”_

“YES! JUST YOU WAIT!” he said and tapped the petals in the flower in a small, forgotten sequence.  It wasn’t much of a song, but he had loved it.  

Someone had loved it.  

He blinked suddenly realizing that he had been talking to himself.  Maybe Undyne was right.  Maybe he did need more sleep.  

He readjusted his position against the rocks and brought up his knees to under his chin.   He wrapped his arms around them and tried his best to relax.  He really did try.  But sleep eluded him and all he managed was half a snooze and half a cry.  

“PAPYRUS!” he heard someone shout soon after.   He was on his feet in an instant.   He was sure that barely any time had passed and he was right.  Monsters were running off the field and towards Undyne’s house.  Something had happened.  

He met up with the monster that had been calling his name and they both ran together towards the Captain’s home.  She stood in front of her house taking quick roll call of all of her recruits.   Once Papyrus and his friend arrived she checked off the last of the names on her list.  She cleared her throat.

“There’s been an attack in Snowdin” she declared in a calm but authoritative voice.

“HUMANS?!” asked Papyrus incredulously.

“No” answered Undyne giving Papyrus a look to keep quiet.  “We’re not sure what it is, but from initial reports, it doesn’t look like it's humans.  The Royal Guard is already on it’s way but we’re closer, so I want to take a small group with me to survey the area”  

Papyrus raised his hand way above his head.

“JUST SURVEY” repeated Undyne through gritted teeth.  

Papyrus’ hand went down a little but he kept it up.  

“Fine.  I rather take monsters that are already familiar with Snowdin.  So locals are welcomed”  said Undyne looking over the rest of the group, seeing a couple of more hands being raised.  “Again, this is just for survey purposes.  I do not want your weaklings fighting whatever this thing is”

A murmur went through the group.  

“What happened?” “Did someone get hurt?” monsters asked.  

“No.  A group of woodcutters got attacked but thankfully nobody was hurt”  said Undyne brushing her hair back “They reported a large creature lunging at them and bringing down several trees with their claws”  

More murmurs traveled through the group.  

“It's probably just a wild monster that needs to be driven back into the forest” said Undyne smiling confidently to calm down her group.  “Either way, it will be good exercise for you nerds”

It worked.  Soon after a small group consisting of Undyne, Papyrus and 3 other monsters were on their way to Snowdin via the Riverperson.  Papyrus couldn’t help but be excited about this - technically- being his first mission.  Even though it wasn’t -technically- a mission.  And he wasn't -technically- a Royal Guard yet.  When it all came down to technicalities, it was the spirit that counted.

They found the town in a panic.  Hardly anything ever happened there, so to suddenly have something like a wild monster coming into town was very big, worrying news.  Although Papyrus was pretty sure panic would happen in bigger, livelier places like The Hotlands or The Capital.  A wild monster, was still a wild monster regardless of location.  

Wild monsters were monsters that lived in the denser, darkest most out of the way parts of the Underground Forest and Swamps.  Nobody really knew how they came to be.  The prevailing theory is that they were remnants of human spells and chaotic monster magic.  They were rare and they usually avoided the monster settlements.  A lot of monsters just assumed that they were extinct or fairy tales.

Undyne warned her small group to beware of “fish tales” meaning, beware of blindly following rumors.  That they would probably see and hear a lot of monsters claim that they had seen or heard the monster near their houses, when they probably only saw/heard other residents.  

She indicated for them to go to the area where the monster had last been seen by the monsters who originally reported it and spread out.  To report back if they saw something and to not engage.  She stayed in town to help with crowd control and be there just in case the monster wondered into town.  

Papyrus promptly reached the area he had been assigned.  As to be expected there had been nothing to report.  He still made it a point to scour the snow around the area for large, unusual foot prints.  Examine the trees for broken branches and rocks for claw marks.  Nothing came up.

In fact, the forest looked quite peaceful.  

WELL THAT WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT AND A HALF.  

After a while of trying to look all Royal Guard like and ready for action. He stopped and just devolved into wandering around until he received orders to stop.  He still kept an eye and ear out, but it was becoming more and more obvious to him that the monster was nowhere near him (if it was still around).  He started going over things that needed to be done back at Grillby’s.  Monsters would certainly be hungry after all that running around in a panic.

He still had another hour or so before he could “punch out” as Undyne loved saying.  So he walked and thought.  He thought and walked.   Eventually, he realized he was not where he was supposed to be.

Yet the place looked familiar.

He was sure he recognized those trees.  And that particular rock.  He had seen that moss before.

_This was NOT a good place._

He looked towards the center of the clearing.  It was empty.  Perfectly still and normal.  Yet it felt like something was going to jump out at him at any moment.  He found himself looking for footprints that weren’t there.  For something he couldn’t find.  

Why was he so anxious?  

His cell phone rang making him yelp.  He heard his own shout echo through the trees as he scrambled to answer it.  He looked at the screen expecting a name that was just in the tip of his consciousness.  Instead he saw Undyne’s name on it.   

“WHERE ARE YOU?” she bellowed before he could even say hello.  

“I … I’M NOT SURE” he said looking around for a clue.  

“ARE YOU OK?” she continued.  In the background he could hear monsters shouting.  

“YES!  I JUST GOT A LITTLE LOST…”  

He heard her let out a breath.  Was she relieved?  “Look around you, Can you see smoke?”  she said a little calmer.  

He did so and spotted two smoke spouts not very far away.  “YES! WAIT A SECOND THAT’S GRILLBY’S!”

“Exactly” said Undyne. “I need you to head back here right away.  If you see or hear anything strange, don’t stop, just get back into town”

“OK! SO NOBODY SPOTTED THE MONSTER YET?” said Papyrus heading in the direction of the smoke.

“One of our guys did” said Undyne somberly.  

“OH!”

“He got dusted” she said “Papyrus get back here now!”


	3. Guide me through the starry night,

Grillby’s Restaurant was packed that night.  It was all Papyrus could do to keep up with orders of food and drinks.  One would think that after the announcement that there was a wild monster running around,  monsters would prefer to stay home, but with Grillby being a seasoned war veteran and the royal guard in town using his restaurant as a center of operations, monsters just felt safer at the not quite big-enough-for-the-whole-town watering hole.

 

Papyrus had not known the monster that had gotten dusted very well, but they had been very good friends with some of the other trainees.  The mood among them was somber and they obviously wanted to get back at the creature that took their friend.  It had taken all of Undyne’s experience and some measure of brute strength to keep them in check.  

 

As the night progressed, Undyne assigned a few guards to escort monsters back to their homes, whether they wanted it or not.  The more seasoned guards had been assigned to patrols around the town.  Papyrus had been very disappointed at not being allowed to join any of the patrols.  He channeled this disappointment towards getting everyone fed and eagerly listening to all the information (gossip) about what this monster could possibly be.  

 

It was a little after midnight when Undyne commanded everyone not assigned to a patrol to bed.  Rooms had been procured at the local Inn for the out-of-towners, and Grillby and Papyrus prepared the storage as best as they could room with extra blankets and bedding for the overflow.  Papyrus even offered his own tiny room in the attic, but he barely fit in there by himself, so he was turned down.  

 

Fighting down another feeling of being useless, Papyrus concentrated on getting every single dish washed and put away, even though Grillby insisted he get some sleep instead.  

 

“NYE HEH, HEH, HEH, THIS IS NOTHING GRILLBY!  I’LL MAKE SHORT WORK OF THIS GIGANTIC PILE IN NO TIME!  YOU SLEEP AND I’LL WASH THESE DISHES SO CLEAN, THEY’LL NEVER DARE TO BE DIRTY AGAIN!”

 

Grilby knew from experience that once Papyrus got into one of these moods, he was next to impossible to dissuade.  If he, somehow, convinced the skeleton to not do the dishes that night, Papyrus would just switch to another big activity like re-tiling the restaurant’s roof, or clear out all the snow out of Main Street.  At least with the dishes, he would stay inside.  He waved a resigned gesture at Papyrus self assigned chore, but insisted he go to bed afterwards.  All he got as a non committal nod from his friend.  That would have to do, as the fire elemental was too exhausted himself to continue trying.    He wished him goodnight and retired to bed.  

 

Papyrus cleaned dishes for another few minutes before he heard the door that connected the kitchen to the bar open again.  He half expected to be Grillby again but was surprised when instead, he saw Undyne coming over and grabbing a drying towel.  

 

“UNDYNE!” he said “YOU DON’T HAVE TO HELP ME WITH THE DISHES! I CAN TAKE CARE OF THEM MYSELF!”

 

“Eh, I need the distraction” she said half drying a dish, putting it down and grabbing another one.  

 

“YEAH, BUT…”  he decided against teaching his Captain the art of drying a dish properly.  Maybe he could dry them again before putting them away.  “WELL, OK, THANK YOU”

 

They continued their chores in silence for awhile.  Most dishes Undyne “dried” were not dry at all.  In fact, they were perhaps more wet?.  Papyrus figured that being a fish monster, Undyne had a very different idea of what being properly dry meant.  

 

“I shouldn’t have sent you newbies in” said Undyne looking at her reflection on a wet glass.  “Wild monsters are so rare and skittish, that I didn’t think there was any real danger”  

 

Papyrus stopped his washing and looked at his friend.  He wasn’t sure what to say or, if he was even supposed to be listening.  

 

Undyne frowned and crushed the glass with her hand, making Papyrus jump.   “Stupid! I should’ve known better!”

 

“WOAH, UNDYNE!’ said Papyrus pulling his friend away from the sink.  He immediately grabbed her hand and inspected it for cuts.  He sighed relieved when he only saw a few scratches.  “I’M SURE NOBODY BLAMES YOU”

 

Undyne looked at him, red eyes blazing.  “I blame myself” she said through clenched teeth.  “SOMEBODY GOT DUSTED ON MY WATCH!’  

 

“YES, AND YOU TOLD US TO NOT ENGAGE THE MONSTER” said Papyrus as he went to fetch a broom to sweep up the broken glass.  

 

“That’s just IT”  Undyne took the broom from Papyrus hands and started sweeping the mess herself “I don’t think they disobeyed orders.  I think they were surprise attacked!”

 

“WHAT?”  

 

“I inspected the area where we found their dust.  There were no signs of a fight.  Just a trail of footsteps that ended in a pile of dust”  Undyne tossed the gathered broken glass in the trash bin.  She stood there looking at the glass pieces and rubbed the back of her neck.  “I think we’re dealing with a predator” she added more quietly.  

 

Papyrus opened his mouth but was interrupted by a vision of a trail of footsteps that ended nowhere.  No sign left of the monster that had made them.   He shuddered.  

 

“Papyrus” she said looking at him fiercely  “You and I had known each other for a long time…”

 

“Ever since we were kids” he said blinking away the vision he had just had.  

 

“Right.  Ever since I found you wandering alone in the woods.  Littlest skeleton I have ever seen. You know you are like a little brother to me” she said walking up to and locking eyes with him.  

 

“Yeah?” he said, a little apprehensive despite the nostalgic tone of her voice.  

 

“So if you even think about going outside and confronting that monster all by yourself…” she said poking his sternum with her finger “I WILL REARRANGE EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY”  

 

“OH … UH … GOTCHA”  said Papyrus.  

 

“ _Promise me”_ she growled at him.  

 

“I PROMISE” he said.  

 

Undyne smiled a little bit then embraced Papyrus in a hug.  “So stupid” she mumbled into his shoulder.  

 

“IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT” he said returning the hug.

 

*******

 

Two days went by without the monster making a new appearance.  A funeral was held for the fallen trainee and, even though Undyne felt differently, Papyrus had been right when he said that nobody blamed her for his passing.    Patrols were kept up, but several of the trainees and guards were sent home.  

 

Undyne decided to move to Snowdin for the time being, and suspended training until further notice.   A plan to go into the deeper parts of the woods in search for the wild one, was in the works.   

 

The suspension of the training gave Papyrus way more free time than he liked.  He still tried to do some training on his own, and even some with Undyne, but she was understandably preoccupied.  She suggested that he worked on his puzzle making, a fairly recent hobby that he had picked up after coming across a book on them at the Librarary.  He did so, but his heart wasn’t in it.  As fun as they were to design on paper, he didn’t see the point in actually building one.  He wasn’t training to be a Sentry after all.  He wanted to be a Guard and be the protector of everyone.  

 

He sat at the Librarary stuck at same page on his puzzle book for the last couple of hours, or so.  He knew he was reading and he knew his brain was registering the words.  He just couldn’t remember what he had just read.  His brain kept acting all weird.   He closed the book frustrated and looked out the window.  Life in Snowdin seemed to be returning to business as usual.  Only the occasional guard dog reminded him that there was still an unresolved danger somewhere outside of town.  

 

He felt like he should go with Undyne and her group into the deeper woods, but he already knew that she wouldn’t have it.  Maybe … maybe he should just go anyway.   Maybe he could be their ultra-secret back up.  

 

He wondered if Undyne really could rearrange every bone in his body….

 

A little rabbit monster walked up to him with a book.  He looked at them and gave them a friendly smile.  He remembered seeing them at the Inn.  One of the owner’s younger cousins, perhaps?

 

“Can you read?” they asked.

 

“YES! OF COURSE I CAN READ.  I AM THE BEST SKELETON READER I KNOW!” he said.

 

The younger rabbit gave him a gap toothed smile and they held their book in front of them.  

 

“Can you read this to me?” they asked again blushing a little bit.  “The book lady says they are busy right now”

 

Papyrus looked at the book.  The title read: “The Adventures of Fluffy Bunny” and had the picture of a bunny leaping among the stars.  

 

“OH IT'S THAT NEW?”  he asked  “I HAVE ONLY READ THE PEEK-A-BOO BOOK”  

 

“That’s for babies!” giggled the rabbit.

 

“OH IT'S THAT SO? Said Papyrus taking the book from them “WELL THE ENDING STILL GETS ME EVERY TIME!”

 

The rabbit giggled a little again as Papyrus picked them up and put them on his knee  “Me too!” they confessed.

 

Papyrus read the book to them, getting as invested in the characters as the little kid monster.  He tried making different voices for everyone and the little rabbit would correct him now and then with a “No, his voice is lower!” or “Trees don’t talk like that!”  Papyrus would then chuckle and follow the kid’s instructions.  

 

At the end, they were both sniffling at the happy ending after such a perilous adventure through dark woods and escaping the evil puzzles left by the villain.  Fluffy Bunny had found all 7 pieces of the wishing star and freed his village.  Papyrus was impressed on how far Fluffy Bunny had gone since its peek-a-boo days.  

 

“Thank you!” said the small rabbit.  “I think you read it better than my brother!”  They looked around then leaned whispered “But don’t tell him that”

 

“OK!” mock whispered Papyrus.  

 

“Oh there he is!” they said leaping off Papyrus’ lap and into the arms of a slightly older male rabbit, wearing a long blue sweater.  “Hi, hi! Are you done with your chores?”  

 

“Yeah I am!” said the older sibling “Were you bored?”

 

“Nu!” they pointed at Papyrus “He read me a story!  He reads almost as good as you!”  They giggled at their own little secret.

 

The older rabbit looked up at Papyrus  “Thank you mister!” He said and took the little one’s hand and started to led them away.  “C’mon Missy,  it’s time for your nap!”

 

The little rabbit waved goodbye at Papyrus before disappearing from view. The skeleton waved back.  

 

He looked down at the book on his lap.  He noticed that there were drops of water splashing onto the cover.  He looked up at the ceiling expecting a leak, but there was none.  Then he realized that they were tears.  He was crying.   

 

Papyrus sniffed and wiped the tears off his cheekbones.  

 

There went his eyes again.  Crying for no reason whatsoever.   It always happened when he had nothing to do.  He got up and put the book in the proper return basket.  

 

He waved a thank you at the librarian and left the building.  A light snow was starting, so he made sure his scarf was properly tied around his neck.  He pulled on his sweater sleeves and buried his hands in his pants pockets.  

 

_He sighed._

 

He decided to go back to Grillby’s and peel a couple of hundred of potatoes.  

 

_It must be nice._

 

Maybe he could convince Undyne to go with her and fight the monster.  Surely he had received enough training by now.

 

_It really must be nice._

 

Yes! Of course he had! He was the great Papyrus after all!

 

 _It must be really nice to have a brother._   

 

.

..

...

 

He walked by the big vacant house near Grillby’s.   There were two closed mailboxes next to it and they were always empty, but for some reason Papyrus always felt the need to open them up and check.   He felt guilty about it, but … nobody seemed to mind.

 

He checked and the emptiness remained.   Well … ok.

 

He looked around feeling a little self conscious, but he doubted any other monster had noticed his little quirk.   

 

He continued on his path.  Going over lists in his head to distract himself.  As he reached Grillby’s he saw Undyne’s group gathered outside.  He quickened his pace but tried to keep out of his Captain’s field of vision, just so … you know … she didn’t get distracted from instructing her troops.  

 

He heard her say that they were heading out in about half an hour.  That was weird to Papyrus because it was mid afternoon and that would only give them a few hours of daylight.   Then he heard her reason: The monster had been spotted near the Ruins.  Although it didn’t seem to be as aggressive as before.  In fact, it seemed to be struggling.  Undyne wanted to take the opportunity to strike it down.  

 

After the briefing was done, the small group dispersed to prepare for the mission.   Papyrus remained where he was digging his heel into the snow.   Undyne noticed him and sighed, fully expecting what Papyrus said next:

 

“SOOOO…..”

 

“No.”

 

“UNDYNE…”

 

“No.”

 

“BUT …”

 

“No.”

 

“BUT UNDYNE….”

 

“Papyrus, I’m two seconds away from carving “No” into your forehead.  Do you really want to try my patience?”  said Undyne putting her hands on her hips.  

 

“FINE” sighed Papyrus “I GUESS ALL THAT TRAINING WAS FOR NOTHING”

 

“Papyrus….”

 

“NO, IT’S FINE… GUESS YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD AS WELL…”

 

Undyne bit her lip and looked away.   

 

“Papyrus, this creature is very dangerous”  she said “I can’t risk … I mean, yes, you have trained for a long time but you are inexperienced and….”

 

“I WON’T GET IN THE WAY! I PROMISE!  I JUST WANT TO HELP!” begged Papyrus, holding his hands in front of him “PLEASE LET ME PROVE TO YOU THAT I AM ROYAL GUARD MATERIAL”

 

Undyne regarded him for what seem to be a long time then slowly, carefully, she hissed out a “ok”

 

Papyrus gasped.

 

“BUT!” she was quick to add “You have to promise me you will follow every single one of my instructions!  If you don’t, I WILL kick you!”  

 

“OUT?”

 

“Yes, and also regular kick you”  She shook a fist in front of Papyrus’ face.  “You know I will”  

 

“YES, UNDERSTOOD” he said, although he couldn’t remember any time she had actually done any real physical damage to him.

 

“Ok.  Fine”  she said tossing her ponytail back “Go get your gear.  We’re leaving in a few minutes”  

 

“OK! THANK YOU!” exclaimed Papyrus and rushed into Grillby’s.   

 

He opened the kitchen door where Grillby and his bear cook, Berry, were starting prep work.  “I’MSORRYI’MNOTGOINGTOBEINTODAYI’MVANQUISHINGAMONSTER” he rattled on and then he was gone.  

 

They heard him run up the stairs and then get into his attic bedroom.  

  
Grillby sighed.  “Please be safe”.


	4. Wake me when the sun shines bright.

 

Sans was very tired. 

 

Very, extremely, impossibly tired.  If there was some level of tired beyond that, he would be at it. He barely registered any outside signals beyond this fact.  He didn’t register the coldness of the snow he was lying on.  The rock against his back creating tiny fissures on his ribs and vertebra, as his body kept being pushed against it.  The fractured sternum in his chest making it impossible to take a breath without sending his whole body shaking. He knew the pain was there and it was probably excruciating, but nope, his brain was too addled to be bothered about it.

 

He looked up at the giant shape towering about him.   His tears prevented him from making out any details other than the general silhouette of the thing.  He was sure he was terrified, but more than that, he wanted it to be over with.  Why didn’t the thing just dust him already?

 

The immense claw pinning him down switched tactics when it couldn’t get another scream out of him.  It lifted its weight a little off his chest and Sans let out a shuddering breath, followed by a sharp cry as a cruelly pointed claw dug into his shoulder breaking his collarbone and shoulder.

 

_Goddammit.  Why?  He obviously couldn’t fight any more.  He had ONE damned HP point.  This should be barely any effort to end, but the monster kept healing him back from becoming dust.  Just enough and never fully._

 

He hated feeling the beast’s healing magic mingling with his own.  It felt wrong, twisted.  Healing magic was supposed to be comforting but this was the direct opposite of that.  It was demanding and greedy. Unreasonable.  Sans could feel his will being taken over, almost overpowered, but so far he had always been able to push it away and regain his senses.  This time, however, he didn’t think he could even muster the will to try. 

 

He gasped as the claw moved and targeted his other shoulder. He cried out again, but this time it was more like an angry groan. He squeezed his eyes shut. 

 

_End it._

 

A smile.  Healing magic invaded his body, repairing the damage. 

 

“N..o..” Gasped Sans tearing up again. 

 

Nobody was coming to save him.  That much he knew.  There was nobody left.  Everybody had been killed.  He wished he could join them but the beast wouldn’t allow it.  It wanted to keep him there, to toy with as far as Sans could tell.  There was no reason to be kept alive other than sheer sadism on the creature’s part. 

 

No reason at all. 

 

Sans was so …. Very tired. 

 

.

..

…

The beast cried out and the weight on Sans body was lifted entirely.  The skeleton took a painful but, appreciated deep breath and forced his eyes to open.  The creature’s attention was on something just outside his field of vision.  It roared and stomped into the woods, completely forgetting about him.

 

The creature’s healing magic had managed to repair him enough to allow for movement if not completely take away the pain.   Sans considered just staying there and hopefully sleeping himself into oblivion, but somewhere, in the void his mind had become he could hear his brother nagging him about getting up. 

 

He lifted a trembling hand up to his face and looked at it. 

 

Such a useless hand.  He wasn’t able to protect anyone with this hand.  With anything of his.  His magic, his will, his knowledge.  All of it.  Useless. 

 

Everyone was gone, taken by this creature for no reason at all.  His brother had been the last one.  He put up a good fight.  Sans was proud. 

 

_He should’ve been able to save him._

 

Before he knew it, he felt his body rolling onto his side.  He got up on his hands and knees wheezing from the effort.  How long had he been there being tortured?  Days?

 

A cry for help.

 

He lifted his head in the direction of the sound.  That hadn’t been the beast.  It sounded like it could be a child.  He tried to get up but found himself stumbling back onto his knees.

 

Ok. Getting up.  Bad idea right now.  Maybe that hadn’t been a child.  Why would a monster child still be around? Even if, somehow, they had survived the monster’s rampage, why would they be in the Snowdin Woods? They should’ve run away as far as possible. 

 

_Not a very smart child.  Probably dead now._

 

 _God he really wanted to get some sleep_. 

 

Sans gritted his teeth and forced his body to stand up.  He groaned, cursed and sniffed and looked a mess, but he was upright.  The phantom pain from his previously damaged bones assaulted him all at once making him lightheaded.  He stumbled a little bit but managed to stay on his own two feet.  He heard something hit the ground. 

 

He stared it for a long moment before his brain came up with what it was.  His cellphone. 

 

_Oh…_

 

He was sure that he had lost that thing a long time ago.   He reached for it carefully.   There was a missed call prompt on the screen: Papyrus. 

 

His soul froze. 

 

 _Papyrus had died.  Yesterday?  A week ago?  Maybe just two seconds ago?_  

 

He held his head as a wave of dizziness hit him.

 

_How was his phone even working right now? Most days he couldn’t keep it charged._

 

The world wavered around him. 

 

 _It made no sense_. 

 

He fell back onto a sitting position, the snow cushioning his fall.  He tapped on the missed call prompt. The call had been received a few minutes ago.  No voicemail.  He shakily tapped on the call back button.

 

The phone rang.  And rang.  And rang. 

 

“NYE HEH HEH HEH! I MISSED YOUR CALL BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS TALK TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS! LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP.  BEEEEEEPPPP!” (in the background he could hear his own voice telling Papyrus that he didn’t have to do the beep sound himself) Then the actual phone beep.

 

Sans smiled bitterly at the phone, it was probably broken and showing old messages.  His brother was gone.  Sleeping the great sleep.

 

“Sweet dreams bro.  I love you” He said as he usually did every night when things were right and hung up.

 

_I’ll join you soon._

 

He tossed the phone into the woods, where he heard it hit something hard.  He sat there hunched over himself. Letting his magic heal him more out of instinct than want.   At first he thought he would just wait for the beast to come back and, maybe that time it would do a better job at killing him.  But then he thought that he really didn’t want to risk getting captured and tortured again.  He might as well do the job himself. 

 

If only he wasn’t so tired. 

 

_God this was sad.  He was too tired to give up._

 

He heard the cry again.   That was definitely a child and they sounded closer than before.  He felt a rumble and saw a few trees falling in the distance.  The beast was at it again. 

 

_He … didn’t want to care._

 

He got up again on shaky legs. 

 

_Stupid kid._

 

He felt the rumble again.  They were to his right.  They were coming closer.  He looked around the terrain trying to remember where he was.  A cave, there was a cave nearby he could use. 

 

“HEY! OVER HERE! COME OVER HERE!” he shouted surprising himself on how strong his voice still was.  He concentrated and teleported a short way.  It had been a long shot but it had worked.  He was shocked but didn’t allow himself time to think about it.   He continued shouting and teleporting until he was next to the cave.

 

The rumbles and cries for help continued but it was obvious that they were now following him.   They were really close now. 

 

“COME INTO THE CAVE!” he shouted and went in himself.  He had been in there a couple of times, back when he was in search for good napping places.  It turned out to be too big and wet for his liking, but it might just be good enough for his irrational, desperate plan.  He run up to the deepest point inside the cave and waited there.   “COME IN HERE!!” he yelled hoping that the echo would carry his voice far enough.  Soon the shaking of the cave walls and the outraged cry of the beast confirmed that he had been heard. 

 

There was very little light coming from small cracks in the ceiling.  He saw a small shape scramble into view, the increasing rumble signaling the huge creature right behind them. 

 

He spread his arms.  “COME TO ME!” he shouted and suddenly felt something crash into him.

 

“Ooooff!” He exclaimed as his body slammed into the rocky wall.  He cursed at himself for not thinking this through.  He started scrambling to get to the kid when he felt a claw dig into the backside of his blue jacket.  A ripping sound was heard and he was pulled back.  He desperately took it off, freeing himself from the creature’s hold.

 

He blindly grabbed at and pulled the small monster into a hug. He closed his eyes and concentrated on a spot a little way from the cave.  They teleported. 

 

As soon as he felt the cold air of the outside, he pushed the small monster away and pointed his left hand at the huge amount of snow on top of the cave.  A weak Gaster Blaster manifested but it was enough.  He released an attack causing all the snow to avalanche over the entrance to the cave.  Sealing the monster in for … well who knew how long … hopefully enough for him and … the kid?  To get away. 

 

He turned around swaying a little bit.  Darkness threatened to take over right at the edges of his vision.  He had used too much energy and magic, too soon.  He blinked at the small monster trying to catch his breath on the ground. 

 

They were a reptile monster.  Maybe 7 or 8 in age.  Sans wasn’t really good at gauging somebody’s age anyway.  They were wearing a raggedy looking striped sweater, pants and snow boots.  They had scratches all over their body but otherwise looked unharmed.   They looked at him with big, fearful red eyes. 

 

“We need to go” said Sans and started heading into the woods, not really caring about the direction as long as it fell in the realm of “away”.  

 

“Uh ... wait” said the kid monster but Sans didn’t.  They got back up and ran after him.   “Uh … uh … thank you Mr.” 

 

Sans waved him off and continue walking as fast as his short legs would allow.  He was spent magically after using his single gaster blast, so teleporting was out of the question for the time being.  The kid run in front of him. 

 

“Uh … um… that was amazing what you did” they said “You really saved me!”

 

“Yeah, ok” said Sans “Just be quiet and keep walking”

 

“Um, ok” 

 

They did so with Sans taking the lead and the kid monster trailing behind.   Eventually Sans realized that they were actually heading back into town.  Strange.  He could’ve sworn the cave was on the other side.  It didn’t matter in the end.  The place was empty now. 

 

After 20 minutes or so of fast walking he had to stop.  His body was giving up on him now that his adrenaline, or determination, or whatever had driven him was gone.  He used the trunk of a tree to steady himself, panting and feeling his legs shake.  They were probably a few minutes away from town.  It would probably be a bad idea to go into Snowdin itself, since that would be the most likely place the beast would search for them.  Then again, they could get food and supplies there.  He had to think but his mind was becoming a mess again.

 

“It’s ok Mr.”  he heard the kid say “I know a safe place where we can rest” 

 

Sans looked at the young one with a raised eye ridge.  “Oh really?” he said.

 

“Yes, yes!” said the child cheerfully.  “I been living there! It’s very safe!”

 

Sans regarded the kid.   His vision blurred.   “Who are you?”

 

“I’m Charlie, sir!” they said.  “C’mon! It’s really close by!”

 

“Hm” commented Sans letting go of the tree “Well, Charlie, I … uh …”  He swayed “I … don’t...”

 

As he fainted he heard Charlie calling his name. 

 

Finally, some sleep.

 

*****


End file.
